By Paula Duhatschek

A University of Waterloo dean says the institution’s recent attempts to address anti-Black racism show a greater concern for public relations than for creating real change.

Kofi Campbell is the vice-president academic and dean of Renison University College, which is affiliated with the university.

Campbell said recent moves by the university speak to a similar problem of administrators making decisions, purportedly to help Black faculty and students, but without actually consulting them.

Earlier this month, the university issued a statement saying the N-word has no place on campus, in response to a change.org petition that called on the university to reprimand a St. Jerome’s University professor who reportedly used the word in class.

The problem, Campbell said, is that many Black faculty members engage with that word as part of their work. Issuing a blanket statement against the word hindered their ability to teach and to do research, he said.

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